


Almost Forgotten, but Not Gone

by Rueitae



Series: Rue's Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Kidnapping, F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Hostage Situations, Kidnapping, Pidge | Katie Holt-centric, Resurrected character, Sabotage, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23210632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rueitae/pseuds/Rueitae
Summary: Pidge knows she isn't safe, not with the the Voltron Lions painting a giant target on their backs for an evil emperor to find. But on good days like this, the Castle feels like a safe haven.It's still a big shock to find out it isn't.
Relationships: Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt, Pidge | Katie Holt & Voltron: Legendary Defender Team, but tagging because most of the people who read my stuff ship it, more like a one sided maybe crush on Pidge's end, pretty minor though - Relationship
Series: Rue's Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668730
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Almost Forgotten, but Not Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my Bad Things Happen Bingo! This one is 'Lured Into a Trap' for thenorthernphoenix!

Pidge leans over her work desk in the Green Lion’s hanger, precariously balancing her knees on the chair to get the best angle on her current project. She wills her hands to remain steady as she uses a pair of Altean tweezers to carefully remove the gravity pole on one of Allura’s old earrings - gifted to her in the name of science. The small metal ball on the one end of the elongated pendant is the key to how the earrings hang freely from ear lobes without a solid attachment. 

Pidge desperately wants to learn how, her curiosity is insatiable to figure out how to apply the technology to the fight against Zarkon… and the way to find Matt and her father. 

All this alien technology is still so new. This is the first stretch of free time she’s had to study any of it between Sendak’s attack and freeing the Balmera. If the seven of them were to have any chance of staying alive, let alone fighting back, they needed creative solutions and technological advancements that the Galra Empire won’t see coming. With Allura confined to her bed, exhausted from healing the Balmera, and Coran needed to functionally run the entire Castleship, Hunk relegating himself to kitchen duty for half the day, and Shiro, Lance, and Keith not mechanical or technological geniuses, it falls to Pidge to work full time on anything she things can be helpful to the group.

Normally Pidge doesn’t mind a bit of pressure, usually thrives under it, looking forward to the eureka moment and fueled by the awed faces of her family and teammates. She can’t help the smile that tugs up her face when she thinks about the pride in Shiro’s eyes, the genuine ohs and ahs from Lance, and being able to see the lightbulb go off in Hunk’s eyes when her discovery gets the gears in  _ his _ mind working to make it even better. The praise is like a drug and the greater the pressure, the more of a diamond she creates. 

The metal end of the tweezers make contact with the gravity pole. Pidge’s hands begin to shake. She loves pressure but… this is almost  _ too _ much pressure. There’s no safety net here in space. One wrong move and Zarkon captures the Lions and kills them all. The team relies on her brain far more than her family on trivia night, the same way she must rely on them for training and protection. They are a team and it is imperative they work together and rely on each other. 

So thin is the margin of error, that she, and the entire team, would be dead if she hadn’t reprogramed an enemy droid on a whim. 

Pidge closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, the memory of Rover’s sacrifice etched in her mind. 

The past is past. Carefully she pulls the gravity pole out of its socket. The important thing is that she makes her team as prepared as they can be for the future. 

A very faint and dull thunk reaches her ear. Eyes dart towards the vent on the floor near the Castle-side doors where she thinks it might have originated from.

The door the hangar swishes open. The thunk is just an artifact of ten thousand year old mechanics, she should have guessed. Pidge looks up, expecting to see Hunk come by for a brainstorming session, but can’t deny she’s pleasantly surprised when she sees Lance sauntering in, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. 

“Hey, Pidge,” he greets casually as he approaches. “Up to anything?”

She shrugs, playing it as cool as possible. A year as his teammate at the Galaxy Garrison, Pidge grew accustomed to Lance just being around. While not as intellectually gifted as she and Hunk, Lance usually was able to offer off the wall insights into problems even if he didn’t realize it. It wasn’t until Coran appointed him as his unofficial helper that Pidge realized how much she missed his idle chatter while she worked. 

“Allura gave me some of her old earrings,” she says, leaning back in her chair. “I’m trying to figure out if we can use its magnetism on a larger scale.”

Lance raises an eyebrow as he leans his hip against her work table, keeping a wandering eye on the earrings themselves. “How long do you think that’ll take?”

Pidge shrugs. “I don’t know, it depends on what I can cross reference from King Alfor’s lab. I don’t have a working translation yet, so probably longer than I’d like.”

“That’s decided then,” he says and it’s Pidge’s turn to raise an eyebrow at his response. He picks up the second of the pair, the one Pidge hasn’t taken apart yet, and twists it around with his fingers before grinning devilishly at her. “You can eat supper first. Hunk says he’s got something that tastes like  _ pumpkin _ ."

Food is the last thing she needs right now, especially when she’d been so focused not long ago. Face scrunching in distaste, she declines, “I’m not hungry. Maybe in about an hour - varga, or whatever. I want to get the first tests running on the gravity poles before I step away.”

Lance eyes her with scrutiny, the like she hasn’t seen since she asked to use her mother’s entire home lab for her sixth grade volcano replica. “Are you absolutely sure?” he presses. “You can’t hide behind your secrets anymore. We have to bond as a team now, you know.”

“I’m very aware,” she says sternly. “That’s why I told you all I was a girl, no more secrets. We’re stronger together and that’ll help me find where the Galra took my family way quicker than I ever would on my own.”

Mouth slightly agape, Lance bristles. “I know that!” In a rare moment, he mellows, eyes looking everywhere but at her. “Sorry. You know we’re here to help you in any way we can. We all have to look after each other right now.”

Pidge nods, warmed that she isn’t the only one who learned the importance of teamwork over the last few days. “I promise I’ll come eat. Give me an hour and I’ll see you there guys there.” She smiles, a warmth in her chest for the words about to leave her mouth. “I’m not going to be like I was at the Garrison. I promise. You guys are my crew, and crew is family. Now that I can look for Dad and Matt out in the open, I’m really looking forward to spending time with you all.”

A snort escapes her when Lance actually blushes at her words. “So you  _ don’t  _ actually hate us?”

“I never did,” she confirms. “If Kerberos never happened and I’d gotten into the Garrison the year I was supposed to, we’d have gotten along pretty good I think.” A smirk. “Besides being your rival pilot, anyway.”

“You  _ wouldn’t _ ,” he gasps, blinking rapidly. “I didn’t know you wanted to be a pilot. Why? You’re a genius.”

Pidge shrugs. “Because it's cool? I spent my whole life watching Dad test new aircraft and I just always wanted to fly one. The tech is out of this world,” she gushes, “and I want to be able to  _ feel _ it in motion, not  _ just _ sit in a lab and design it.”

It takes a moment, but Lance stands, a genuinely soft smile on his face. “You’re alright, Pidge.” He holds up an index finger. “One hour and I’m coming back to get you.”

Pidge rolls her eyes. “I should be eating space pumpkin well before then. Make sure you save plenty for me. Oh,” she adds, pointing to the earring still in his hand, “I’m going to need that still.”

She registers his smirk too late. In one fluid motion, Lance reaches over and lightly flicks at her ear lobe. The unfamiliar weight hangs loosely and Pidge can’t help reach up to it. 

“It looks good on you,” he tells her, not a hint of tease. “No need to make everything about science. You gotta take care of yourself too.”

Pidge’s cheeks burn as he walks away and out the door. The way Lance was so insufferable one minute and then genuinely kind and affirmative the next still messes with her head, warming her heart with a thousand fluttering butterflies. A part of him must be smug now that he has confirmation all of his friendship building attempts at the Galaxy Garrison amounted to something. 

Though it may stroke his ego, it feels good to have friends. 

“Okay,” she tells herself, turning back to her earring deconstruction. “Let’s hold to that promise.”

~~~~~

A half varga later Pidge hums as she hits the ‘enter’ key on her laptop. Almost immediately, lines of code scroll rapidly across the screen, faithfully running the tests on the different parts of the earring she’s disassembled. She flicks the second half of the pair that still hangs from her ear, enjoying the spurt entertainment as it wobbles back and forth in her peripheral vision. 

It  _ was _ pretty cute. The fact that it was Lance’s suggestion makes her giddy more than anything, a sign she’s really starting to connect with the rest of her team. No more secrets, no one making fun of her for being a nerd - celebrating it instead - It’s the most amazing she’s felt since her family went missing. 

All aside from the fact they are constantly in peril from a universe-spanning evil Empire.

Allura and Coran insisted they bond as a team, imperative to keeping Voltron strong and therefore keeping all of them, and hope for universal freedom, alive. With a mandate like that and the promise of anything Earth-flavored, Pidge is glad to do her part and head on towards the kitchen and join the others. 

Another thunk, different from the various environmental systems of the Castle turning on and off accordingly. Just the same as the first time she heard it, right before Lance entered the hangar, though it sounds much closer, almost like an electrician working on the circuit board, opening the metal door to see the wiring. Pidge knows mechanical, has grown up around it between her parent’s labs both at home and at the Galaxy Garrison, this has the feel of someone rather than something. 

Likely Coran, she can’t imagine anyone else making adjustments to the Castle systems since Hunk is in the kitchen. With Allura confined to her bed, Pidge can think of no better bonding activity than to introduce aliens to Earth food. She’ll just have to collect him on her way. 

Opening the door to the adjacent service hallway that runs throughout the Castle, Pidge turns on the light and looks in the direction of the sound. 

“Coran?” she asks aloud. 

Nothing. 

The sound again. This time a little further away… and in a pattern. It’s almost musical, something the Garrison marching band would play. 

“Are… we playing hide and seek?” she asks tentatively. A tiny bit of worry drops into her heart. Coran loves to joke around, and though she hasn’t known him for that long yet, this kind of prank doesn’t really feel like him. He’s usually all too excited to indulge her every curiosity about Castle operations. “Everyone else is in the kitchen helping Hunk try out some food that tastes like Earth stuff.”

No verbal answer… but the noises continue, and immediately changes tune.

For all this doesn’t feel right, Pidge pushes on further down the tunnel, curiosity overriding common sense. Someone, or something, is down here and the others will want to know. Part of her wonders if it's a poor Balmeran who wandered in and got lost during the victory celebration, or even a pirate like Rolo and Nyma, or worse any manner of space creature that snuck in during flight. 

Perhaps she needs her bayard for this. Just in case. 

Turning she makes her way back towards the door she came in from. Before she can reach for the handle, a sharp pain registers in the back of her head as her mind goes blank.

~~~~~

A pounding headache is the first thing she registers, and the persistent hum of the Castle’s engine the second. She lies on the floor, cheek squished against the metal. Groaning, she moves to sit up to relieve her sore left arm from the weight of her body.

It’s a futile effort. Her arms won’t come apart, held together by something binding her wrists. Her eyes fly open with a gasp, immediately registering the fact that she’s still in the service hallway, but a long, long way from where she entered them. The same noise she’d followed starts again, only this time it’s right behind her, like a fingernail tapping on metal, and it's accompanied by an amused and very unkind chuckle. 

Her breath hitches and in a series of messy movements manages to turn around and sit up. She freezes in fear, eyes wide and disbelieving of the person moving and breathing in front of her. 

“You’re dead,” Pidge tells Haxus, because he  _ was _ . Every bioscan of the Castle indicated no more than seven humanoid occupants and four mice. He’s the last person she expected the intruder to be.

He taps his claw against the wall, grinning as if he’d won the lottery… or cornered his prey. “I was,” he says. “I’m sure you’ll be disappointed that I didn’t suffer outside the terror of the freefall. The landing cracked my skull and snapped my spine, I died instantly.”

Haxus shows his teeth, kicking off from the wall and squatting far too close for comfort. “But then I took breath again about three quintants ago, miraculously. Since then, it’s been a joy to observe you all, running around without a clue as to the insurmountable task you’ve given yourselves.” Pidge can’t back away quick enough before he takes her chin with his hand, forcing her to look up at him. “Your time playing Paladin is at an end, Child.”

Pidge can’t breathe fast enough to keep up with her rapidly beating heart, fear pounding in her chest. As improbable as this is, her brain already works out why and how. Three days ago, Allura healed the Balmera from the brink of death… and had unintentionally brought Haxus back  _ from _ the dead. 

And the others had no idea. 

Armed with the knowledge of how all this came to be, Pidge snarls. “We’re in the middle of open space. You’re outnumbered and outgunned. You won’t escape.”

He lifts and tilts her head upwards, stretching her throat to a slightly uncomfortable level, totally exposed. “I have a hostage,” he reminds her, as if it were obvious already. “And the element of surprise.”

Tears well up just behind her eyes. Pidge does her very best to keep them at bay, the last thing she wants to show is how  _ terrified _ she is at this unexpected development. Haxus had the intent to kill her last she saw him. She’d pushed the memory of him falling to the back of her mind, compartmentalized in ‘things she didn’t need to worry about any more’. Seeing him alive, and completely at his mercy, when just not long ago she’d been looking forward to spending time with her friends is an emotional whiplash like none other. 

“What do you want from me?” she asks through clenched teeth, fearful anything else will let the water works flow.

Pidge stiffens and holds her breath as the tip of a claw rides up her taught throat. “Just exactly what you’re doing now,” Haxus says almost affectionately. “Keep trying to hang onto that defiant glare while the reality of your situation sinks in.”

After too long holding her breath, he finally lets her go. Pidge gulps greedily for air. Instantly her mind goes to work, searching for any sort of way to escape. She has no bayard, no armor, no helmet to call for help…

Except that she still has a functional earring that doubles as a communicator. 

_ Please turn on _ , she pleads desperately in her mind, solely focused on sending brain waves towards the device.  _ Please let the others hear this. _

Haxus ignores her, going about setting what looks like charges. It doesn’t take much of a leap of logic to figure out what he’s doing. They are right next to the engine room, one well placed detonation and the Castleship will halt, giving Haxus ample opportunity to do whatever he wants. 

“So you have me,” Pidge starts with a much more even tone than she feels with her stomach twisted in knots. “Now what? It’s still you versus six others.” Not counting the mice, no need to reveal the ace in their sleeve. 

“Once the ship is compromised, I will use one of the Altean shuttles to contact Central Command, at which point retrieval of the Lions will be child’s play. You will remain with me,” he confirms. “As reward for besting me in combat, I will allow you the honor of choosing a swift death or a life serving the Galra Empire.”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a reward,” Pidge grumbles. 

Haxus merely grins, not wickedly, but one annoyingly comfortable in his situation. “It is more honorable than watching a child such as you meet a grizzly death in the Arena.”

Pidge can’t help but remember Shiro’s telling of how he’d saved her brother from that fate, and how Shiro himself only escaped by becoming a champion. She wonders with what little training she’s received would give her a better chance than what Haxus gives her. 

“I’ll make your life so miserable that you’ll regret coming back to life,” Pidge tells him sternly, glaring as if he would just drop down dead right at that moment. 

He practically purrs, flipping a switch. “A wise decision. I look forward to watching you try.”

If Pidge thinks she can read tics right, they have less than five minutes before it goes off. She feels her face fall, confirmed by the smug look Haxus wears. “The engine is far stronger than you think, blowing it up won’t work!” She tries to think of any information she can provide her team, she prays they are listening. “The service tunnels have a blast door, it doesn’t matter if the engine is on the other side.”

The tics literally tick away, loudly and enunciated by the silence, Haxus refusing to answer her. Pidge twists her wrists, trying to work out a way she can free herself. Mentally she counts the seconds. With four minutes to go, Haxus wraps his claws under her arm, lifting her roughly to her feet. Pidge scrambles, trying and failing to keep up with the long strides and quick pace that Haxus sets.

“Where are you taking me?” she grunts, hoping the information gets to her team. If he means to stop the ship, then where are they going?

“To Emperor Zarkon,” he says smugly. “You will be the token gift before he dismantles this ship and takes back the Lions.”

Pidge gasps. Haxus isn’t staying, he’s going to take her off ship with one of the shuttles. Her team will not be able to follow when the Castle can’t move and the Lions are unable to leave their hangars. 

She can’t let this happen. Pidge pulls back, going slack and forcing Haxus to carry her full weight the rest of the way. 

“Move, Child,” Haxus growls, clearly agitated. 

Pidge smirks, glad for the reaction. “Make me,” she dares. 

She knows he has no time. He knows he has no time. Haxus is forced to waste precious seconds lifting her over his shoulder. Pidge’s stomach lurches as it twists upside down, but she smiles in satisfaction. As soon as she’s settled, she sinks her teeth into the back of his arm, securing a clump of fur and pulling.

Haxus howls in pain. Years of ballet in elementary school gives Pidge the flexibility to swing her legs back and hit his face. No sooner as Pidge has tumbled to the floor, sharp claws dig into her hair and pull her up. 

“I cannot wait,” Haxus tells her, seething, “to see to your punishment for all you’ve done.”

Pidge gasps, face twisting in pain waiting for the inevitable explosion and whatever Haxus has in store for her. 

The explosion sounds a lot like a gunshot. 

Pidge drops to the floor with a thud. Haxus lands on top of her and does not move. 

“Pidge!” 

Her heart does flipflops hearing a friendly voice. Turning just enough, there’s a blaster wound in Haxus’s temple, perfectly placed. The ordeal is over, but her heart can’t stop pounding. She hadn’t realized Lance was  _ that good _ of a shot. 

He helps her sit up and get away from Haxus’s body. “Quiznak, Pidge, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she says through shaky breath. It’s probably true, though nightmares about Haxus as a zombie will probably haunt her for a while. “Is the engine okay?”

“Thanks to you it is,” he says, twisting around to work at the cuffs behind her. “Coran stopped it remotely.”

An electrical impulse, Pidge sighs with relief. The Castle was going to be fine. They’d all survive another day. That had been… far too close and Pidge well underprepared. 

She resolves not to be unprepared again. 

“It’s thanks to you,” she tells him. “You put the earring on me. That’s the only way I was able to communicate with you guys.”

The cuffs unclick and Pidge rubs her wrists, grateful for the freedom. 

“You… kept wearing them,” he observes, almost in shock. “I thought you’d be annoyed and take them off.”

Pidge shrugs. “I just wanted to keep wearing them because they’re cute. I owe you one, Lance. You’ve got some good ideas every now and then,” she teases.

“You… thought they were cute?” he squeaks, a blush coating his cheeks. His blush makes her own face warm.

“I  _ like _ cute things,” Pidge says.  _ Like you _ , a traitorous voice says in the back of her mind. “So thank you for saving me twice over.” A pause. “How did you get down here so fast?”

Really three times, if she counts his persistent attempts at friendship. One she is so thankful for right now. 

“I um, came to get you,” he says almost sheepishly. “Just like I said. It’s been almost two hours since I left the Green Lion’s hangar. The door to the service hallway was open so I just started walking.”

Luck. Pidge almost can’t believe that she is still in the Castle, safe from harm, because Lance stuck to his guns to bring her back to the kitchen to spend time with everyone. Just as he woke from unconsciousness to shoot Sendak and just as he decided to knock on the Blue Lion’s particle barrier. Mentally, she files ‘luck’ under Lance’s various strengths along with ‘good shot’ and ‘good friend’. 

She sits up on her knees and throws her arms around his neck. “Thank you. For everything.”

Lance stiffens at first, but reciprocates the hug. “Anything for you, Pidge,” he says softly, sincerely.

Footsteps echo down the hallway. Soon she’ll have her whole team around her, a physical and mental barrier around this latest horrifying incident. Her body slumps and settles easily, all the pressure of needing to be at her best and brightest washes away, at peace with the knowledge that no matter what happens with this Voltron thing and the search for her family, she doesn’t have to rely on  _ just _ her brain. 

She really and truly isn’t alone, she’s got a whole space family that has her back.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](https://rueitae.tumblr.com/).


End file.
